To releasably join optical fibres together for example at the back of a device or at a feedthrough through a housing or a wall, connectors and/or receptacles that fit the connectors in the form of individual couplings, called receptacles in the case of optical fibres, are fitted into the ends of the optical fibres to be joined and fixed onto the optical fibres for example by clamping, shrink-fitting, gluing, casting or welding, with the result that light can then be reliably transmitted, by plugging connector and receptacle into each other, from an end face of one optical fibre into the end face of the opposite optical fibre.
To this end, ferrules, preferably made of a ceramic material, which are formed flat or convex at their end facing away from the optical fibre depending on the type of connection assembly, are usually arranged in each case in the connectors and the receptacles at the ends of the optical fibres, in order to ensure that the end-side coupling of light from one ferrule into the ferrule opposite it in the other connector or the other receptacle and arranged rotated by 180° relative to the first is without loss as far as possible and unsusceptible to scattered light. The ferrules serve to protect the ends of the optical fibres against wear and damage and serve to guide the optical fibres more easily, and in particular accurately, in the area of the connection assembly.
To ensure the better interchangeability of the connection cables, in most applications the optical fibre cables which comprise several individual optical fibres which, similar to a multiple wire, are each surrounded by their own casing in the cable sheathing, are made exclusively with connectors and appliance or wall connections are implemented with receptacles, wherein to create an optical connection between two optical fibre cables, for example for the purpose of extension, in each case the end faces, provided with a connector, of the optical fibres to be joined are plugged from opposite sides into a double coupling for optical connectors.
Such a connector usually consists of a housing into which an optical fibre cable is led at the rear side and in each case a ferrule, joined to an optical fibre, which projects from the connector on the end side opposite the rear side.
Connectors in RJ45 format are known for electrical connecting cables, wherein connectors of such dimensions are also increasingly used in optical fibres. The use of identical dimensions for electrical and optical connectors has the advantage that the optical fibres are compatible with electrical connections for example during installation, as these can be guided and laid for example through feed openings or cable shafts which are really intended for electrical cables.
Until now, generic connectors have been prefabricated in the state of the art, with the result that when joining the connector to the optical fibre only the optical fibre is pushed into the connector and glued to the ferrule. In the case of connectors which have a spring-loaded ferrule, this process is complicated insofar as it can here easily lead to a sticking of the parts that are movable towards each other.